Sunday’s Bundesliga Review: Dortmund Go Ten Points Clear

Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund side have looked unstoppable lately, and they had the chance this Sunday to extend their lead at the top of the Bundesliga table to ten points. Meanwhile, their main title rivals Bayer Leverkusen, will have been hoping to keep pace and take advantage of any slip-ups. Let’s get to the results.

Nurnberg 0 – 2 Borussia Dortmund

They definitely didn’t play with their usual verve and pace, but that could be down to the sub-zero temperature in Nurnberg on Sunday afternoon. Nurnberg pressed their opponents well in the first-half and if it hadn’t been for some last ditch defending by Dortmund, the hosts may have found themselves in the driving seat here. Against the run of play, Dortmund went 1-0 up when a Nuri Sahin free-kick found the head of Mats Hummels, who lost his marker and nodded into the far corner. In the second half, Dortmund took control of the midfield and pressed the hosts for a second, and it came through Robert Lewandowski who started in the place of Lucas Barrios who missed out through injury. Jurgen Klopp has put a side together that play without fear. This title is theirs to lose at the moment.

Bayer Leverkusen 3 – 2 FC Koeln

Jupp Heynckes’ side did it the hard way, but the three points is all that matters. Patrick Helmes poached Bayer’s first, but Geromel equalized minutes later from a Lukas Podolski set-piece. Leverkusen reclaimed their lead ten minutes after the break when Arturo Vidal’s pass ran through Sidney Sam’s legs and into the path of Tranquillo Barnetta, who blasted it into the far corner. Lukas Podolski thought he had equalized just minutes later, but his goal was ruled offside. Leverkusen went 3-1 up after Arturo Vidal’s corner met the head of Manuel Friedrich, but the big German could only smash the crossbar. Luckily, Stefan Reinartz was on hand to put it in the back of the net. Koeln got right back in it though just minutes after the hour mark through Martin Lanig, but the hosts were able to hold firm and deny their opponents an equalizer.

The cranium of Mats Hummels should be declared a lethal weapon! He is simply deadly with the header. This should serve the national team well in the future on set pieces, which I feel were lacking for quality during the World Cup (Schweinsteiger to Müller being one of the more notable exceptions, of course).

Podolski played a strong game for Koeln. He played with great skill and distributed the ball very well. He was robbed on the offside, IMO.